Rin's 8th Birthday & Wicked

R's birthday was on a Sunday this year and since it wasn't a multiple of 5, we knew that we were not going to do anything big.  I heard that Wicked was going to be performed over the summer and I looked up the dates.  There was a showing on Sunday, the 7th, and so we asked her if she'd like us to take her to see Wicked for her birthday.  Sure, tickets for 3 people would be more than we would spend on any other gift, but B and I wanted to see it as well.  Gram & Granddad were in town and we had all the cousins for a sleepover on Saturday August 6th, so R was well loved by family.  After church and lunch, the cousins went home and then we got ready to travel to down town Houston to see Wicked. The show started at 7 and R's choice of dinner was Wendy's....how great is that!  The three of us ate at Wendy's and then saw a great performance together.  She loved it and it was a great 

birthday with our oldest child.

  This video is of all the cousin's swimming together on August 6th.  They didn't come over for R's birthday, it just happened to fall on the weekend, but it made for a great pre-birthday celebration.

checking in all the cousins at church

on our way to see Wicked 8/7/16

The birthday girl is 8 years old!

We are so excited!

Cousin love on Rin's birthday

First Day of School 2016

August 22, 2016 was the first day of school for public school.  I made R, A, & W dress the same because of pictures.  The traffic was bad as expected, but we parked and walked them into the school.  I had already been working for a couple of weeks, so after bringing them to school I had to rush off to work.  We actually sent E to Aunt Mo's house on Sunday because her preschool hadn't started yet either.  Everyone was excited and we knew that they would LOVE it.

Together after school 8/22/16

Ell started Pre-School at Sugar Creek Baptist Church on August 31, 2016.  We took pictures of her just like the other kids and she was excited and read to be there.

Meet the Teacher

I for one was excited about returning to the same school for a second year in a row.  I know R expressed that she was a little tired of going to a new school 3 years in a row so she was happy also.

W was starting Kindergarten and had meet the teacher on Wednesday August 17th.  He was very excited and to say ready is quite the understatement.  He's been ready for Kinder for quite some time.  We all took him to the orientation and listened to all the K teachers talk about things we needed to know for Kinder.  We remembered most of the items from A's Kindergarten year but it was good for W to hear things. 

After the opening session with everyone, we were released to go to the rooms and meet the teachers.  We found W's classroom and his desk and met Mrs. Volz.  She had been a 2nd grade teacher the year before, so R knew her, but she was new to the rest of us. 

R & A had their meet the teacher on Friday August 19th.  There was no orientation or information session, just a meet and greet.  We went to A's classroom first and met Mrs. Huseman.  A found out that Brayton and Cameron were in his class again this year (both boys from his K class).  Mrs. Huseman is his math/Sci/SS teacher and Mrs. Williams is his ELA/Writing teacher.  R's homeroom teacher is Mrs. Keller and she's got several friends from last year too.  Her ELA/Writing teacher is out on maternity leave but should return to class in November.  Mrs. Ortega is her maternity sub and seems to be very nice. 

We are very excited about a great year at Williams Elementary School. 

CG Games

I started working out with Camp Gladiator in April when Erin B invited me to try and free camp.  I LOVED it and met most of my fitness needs that I wasn't getting from the YMCA.  The best part about CG was I could work out in the mornings before anyone else was awake and then I had my full day and didn't have to drive to the YMCA.  I still went to the Y too because I had friends there and I did like the HIIT class but it was only twice a week for 30 minutes.  I really enjoyed CG so I kept going and then finally we cancelled our Y membership and I joined CG instead.  I started making friends at CG and then one morning Skyler, our trainer, pulled me aside with Hyon & Sylvia and told us that we should form a CG Games team.  The three of us with Ally (Mike's wife) would be a team and compete.  We all agreed and formed our team 2 Fit 2 Quit.

meeting Hyon at 5:45 to drive to the games

Ally (and baby), Hyon, Me, and Sylvia

The first round of prelims was August 20th with another round on September 3.  There were 4 events and our team had been meeting on Sundays for several weeks practicing the events for prelims.  If you wanted to go to the second day and improve your time, then you could so our team actually did perform both days.  Bryce and the kids came to the first location and first day in Pearland and cheered us on.  The second time I just went with the girls and he stayed at home.  We didn't finish high enough to compete at the finals in November, but we had a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Our trainer for CG Skyler

Our trainer for the games, Mike (Ally's husband)

 These are videos that B took.  Having him and the kids there cheering us on felt so nice.  The second time we went, they didn't come along and it was different not having anyone cheering for us.  We yelled for each other and we all improved our times for our events.

our times after the first day of prelims.

My New Job

Well it's not my "new" job anymore.  I've been working at Logos Prep for 10 weeks now and I love it.  I have missed teaching so much and didn't realize it until getting back in the classroom.

Last spring (April), B and I talked about me getting a job at a public school now that W was going into Kindergarten and E would be the only one at home.  I applied at LCISD and had an interview at Reading Jr. High.  I met with the principal there and the interview went great.  He did not have any math openings and I consider that a good thing when all the math teachers are returning to the school.  At least I took the time to meet him and I'll be on his radar for future openings.  After my interview at Reading, I had two interviews at The Saint Constantine School, in Houston.  It's a new private school opening up and they are renting space from CBS.  After the second interview, I heard from them that their enrollment was not at as high as they were expecting so they were pausing all hiring for the time being.  I didn't get a great feeling from those interviews, plus, it was a classical education and I have no experience with that.  I was sharing at my MOPs table about my prayer request for job searching and praying for guidance to follow God's will of staying home again for another year or going back to work.  Denise, my mentor mom, suggested I apply online at Logo's.  She said it wouldn't hurt and if they had a position open, someone would contact me. So I did.  I filled out the application online and then didn't really think about it until late in April I got an email about an interview.  I went in and had the first interview with Tammy (head of school) and Carol (math department chair).  The interview went very well and before I got home after the interview, I had an email for a second interview.  The second interview was scheduled for the following week (while Ashley K and Jonathan were visiting) and I met with Coach Pennye (athletic director) and Jason (AP and 8th grade teacher).  The position was for the 8th grade math teacher and it was part time and consisted of 3 classes per day for 3 days a week.  I learned the history of Logos and their mission and model.  They are a University Model School  which was a new concept for me.  I found it very interesting and the more I learned, the more I felt like a flipped classroom would work great with a UMS.  Plus, the job was only part time and I could still get the kids to school and I'd be home before they got off the bus.  The only question was what would Ell do while I taught.  They emailed me and offered me the job after 2 days and also wanted me to coach soccer.  I politely declined a coaching job this year simply because of the kids and not wanting to over commit.  I do enjoy coaching and hope to coach again, but just not now.  We called around a found 1 spot open at Sugar Creek's preschool for MWF.  The times didn't work out perfectly but we stepped out in faith and I accepted the job.  I was excited and nervous.  After not working for 2 years I had gotten comfortable with my stay at home job.  My gut feeling was that staying home with only Ell might not fulfill either of us in the way the previous 2 years had been.  I feel bad saying that, but she likes to play with others and I missed teaching.  God answered my prayers and I got a job at Logos Prep Academy. 

So now that it's October, I've been working there for 12 weeks and I really like it.  It took me a good 3 weeks to adjust but once I got the groove of things, I've really liked it.  There are some differences than public school, starting with I only work 3 days a week, but many others too.  I'll have to blog again about my experiences, but for now, this has been a great blessing for me and our family.  Thanks be to God.

Easter 2016

My favorite weekend of the year.  It's beginning to be something the kids' look forward to as well which makes my heart happy.  We invited JuJo to come with us and they did, which we were really excited about.  Jo and I left around 2 and I had my 4 with me and she had her 2 plus Xavier with her.  We followed each other until right before Hammond, when she needed to stop for gas but her phone died so she didn't have any way to let me know.  I was worried, but she made it to Uncle Charles' house safe and sound around 9:30 pm.  The kids played outside for a while and then we put them to bed around 10:30 all in the back bedroom.  Jo was going to nurse Jenevieve so I let her have some privacy and I went to socialize.  B and Julian arrived around 11:30 pm and Julian pretty much went straight to bed (he woke up at 4 am for work).  B and I slept on the air mattress in the living room and went to sleep around 1 am.  

Friday morning JuJo told us they were going to stay in a hotel.  I was not happy about it, but B told me that we couldn't change their minds and for some people, staying at my Uncle's house is a bit of a culture shock.  I guess he's right, but to me, it's normal.  After a few hours, we went to New Orleans with JuJo to walk around the city and eat at Cafe Du Monde.  R was our only kids that wanted to come, so we let the younger 3 stay back with Tata and Nana at Uncle Charles' house.  We enjoyed our time and walked around Jackson Square and ate beingets.  JuJo enjoyed the city and said it wasn't as scary as they thought it was going to be.  New Orleans has a bad reputation and maybe some parts are bad, but overall, it's a neat city.  While walking around Jackson Square, we saw Chris, Heather, and Lincoln.  They had taken a Riverboat Tour and were just finishing up.  We all headed back to Uncle Charles' house for some yummy food made by Dawn.  The rest of Friday evening was spent hanging out with C/H and JuJo and the kids playing.  B set up the tent for the boys and we stuffed the crawfish bags inside.  R and E went to the hotel with Gram & Granddad so the boys (A, W, Jeff & Xavier) slept in the tent outside.  It opened up a lot of space inside so B and I had the room all to ourselves.  Before going to bed, we made smores at the bonfire and played spades with Grandmalupe (one of my favorite parts). 

Saturday started off the same way it does each year: helping Grandmalupe make beignets in the kitchen while most people are still sleeping.  Uncle Charles is always up and out the door early to go pick up the crawfish and get things started.  Uncle Waldon and Little Charles usually help out but Lil' C wasn't able to come down this year due to residency up in Oregon.  We ate breakfast and just hung out at the house for a while.  I decided it was time to stuff the Easter eggs with candy for the hunt and when I went into the bedroom to get the empty eggs and candy, I found my dad and Ella still in bed with Kristin.  So I jumped in and cuddled with them and then Ashley K came in too.  All 5 of us were snuggled up close having a great time until Grandmalupe came in and fussed us all that we needed to get out of bed.  I believe her exact words were "if all you're going to do is sleep, then go home".  We all laughed when she left the room and then slowly, one by one, we got out of bed.  It was really cute though.  Ashley, Jo, Heather and I all filled the plastic eggs with candy and a few with money for the hunt and then spent the rest of the time outside eating crawfish and playing.  We got a soccer game going and my team was B, me, Ryan DeDeaux, Bubba and A versus Julian, Chris, Riley, Fresh, and Lloyd.  We played for a while and all of us were really sweaty but it was fun.  After soccer, we ate more, then played Tai games that Fai had made up.  B orchestrated the games and they were really cute.  The kids loved playing and the adults gathered around to watch.  B shared an Easter store with the children before releasing them to the front yard for the hunt. Before everyone started making their exits, we took some family pictures and said our goodbyes.  C/H/L left when it started to get dark and we wouldn't see them again for a long time.  We love spending time with the Bryant's and are so thankful that they still make the trip over to LA for Easter.  JuJo left with the boys because they were going to get an early start back to Texas on Sunday since Ju has to get up so early for work.  They said that they had a great time and Jo said that "next year she will bring fajitas" so that's a good sign that they think they might come back.  Our kids had to sleep inside because the rain was coming and B didn't want the tent to get all wet and then we would have to pack it up and put it in the van so the four kids were on the floor in our room.  After putting the kids to bed, B and Lloyd packed up the tent and we sort of hung out outside for a bit.  We got into this really weird conversation with this guy who is a friend of a friend.  He wasn't all there (if you know what I mean) so he did most of the talking and B and I just listened for a while.  I had enough of listening to him slur his words so I excused myself to head inside and get ready for bed.  We had an early morning since we needed to leave at 7:00 for Easter Sunday Mass.

There were 2 things that made this Saturday different than other Saturdays of Easter Weekend.  1. We did not play softball and I blame Lil' Charles for that one.  See, Lil C couldn't come because of his residency in Oregon and he and I always get the game going.  I asked a few people and no one seemed motivated and I didn't know where the bats and bases were.  I don't know if anyone else noticed like I did, but I didn't hear any other adults asking if we were going to play.  2. Bubba and Gilly came over and shared with us the news of their baby!  I can write it now and no one knows if I'm telling the truth, but I knew it.  As soon as they walked up and he hugged me, I knew something was up and I just had this feeling like they were pregnant.  He didn't tell us right away, but when he did, we all hugged and were excited for them.  Now, of course the circumstances aren't ideal, but things could be worse.  We had to have the conversation with R about how they could have a baby and not be married (ugh) but we are happy for them.  They've made a lot of mature decisions and they are excited about Baby Eli being born in November.

Sunday morning came early, but the kids got up and dressed in their newest Easter outfits and we followed Uncle Charles to church.  Church lasted an hour and we sat with Mom & Chuck and Uncle Charles & Grandmalupe.  The weather was terrible and it was pouring when we arrived and left.  It pretty much rained all night and morning.  After church we went by Starbucks for a little treat and then headed back to Uncle Charles' house.  They needed a few things for Easter Dinner so B & I volunteered to go to the store so we could help contribute.  Before eating, we packed up our stuff and packed up Storm so we could be ready to get on the road.  We ate outside under the car port and B said the blessing for everyone.  Easter Dinner was really nice and I was glad that we had a chance to stay and eat this year with everyone.  My mom & Chuck took W/E back with them to keep for the week and our ride home was easy and quiet.  We picked up Cooper on the way from Ms. Mary, and got home and the kids went to bed around 9:00.  The weekend was great!